Community bands together after Wednesday’s storm

As the clean-up efforts continue after Wednesday’s storm, volunteer organizations are teaming with the city to assist those most effected.

City services such as the parks and street departments are sharing equipment to help remove debris and fallen trees from the city’s streets, City Communications Director Jared Schlemmer said.

“For something like this, the first priority is getting trees and limbs out of the roadway,” Schlemmer said.

Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan designated a “high impact” zone Thursday, which includes areas roughly within the boundaries of 10th Street to Grimes Street and High Street to Patterson Drive.

Residents who live in the “high impact” zone will be able to have debris removed from their property for free until June 8, Schlemmer said. Tree limbs and logs should be no longer than eight feet if citizens want them removed from their property for no charge.     

Schlemmer also said while the Police Department suffered minor damage to some vehicles and its roof after Monday’s storm, the city was fortunate not to have any damage to its facilities after Wednesday’s storm. However, parks such as Seminary Park, located at the corner of W. Second Street and S. College Avenue, suffered major damage.

This week’s storms brought major destruction to the city’s parks and street trees, City of Bloomington urban forester Lee Huss said

“The second wave happened to be more devastating in places like Seminary Park where about 50 percent of the forest is now lost,” Huss said.  

He said both the Monday and Wednesday storms brought down almost 130 trees and cleanup will continue for the next couple of weeks.  

The city is also going to work with volunteer organizations like the Red Cross to help those in need.

Sue Gully, Director of the Monroe Chapter of the Red Cross, said after Wednesday’s storms private citizens were trained in damage assessment and then went out to asses the destruction on a house by house basis.

“Based on the data, we can give information to Emergency Management and share that information back and forth so we know what kind of help people may need,” Gully said.  

She said the Red Cross has opened an emergency shelter at First United Methodist Church but has also helped those displaced by the storm find a hotel for the night. However, because of the Track and field prelims on campus and the Memorial Day weekend, two other families were given shelter in Owen County.

“Those two families will be given the option of coming to the shelter tonight,” Gully said referring to First United Methodist Church shelter.        

She said people who want to help with the relief effort can provide cash donations.

Also, the City’s Volunteer Network is looking for more volunteers to help with cleanup efforts, which would free up Red Cross workers to concentrate on sheltering and feeding the victims of the storm. The City’s 211 telephone line can also be called by anyone seeking information to assist those who were affected by the storms.

Want to help out? Contact these organizations:
211 – Seeking information on emergency assistance
City’s Volunteer Network – (812) 349-3430
Red Cross of Monroe County – (812) 332-7292